Detective Steve Carella of the 87th precinct had a pretty complete description of the man he was looking for:The man was tall, blond, handsome — a powerhouse of strength and sex. Women gave him whatever he wanted.And he made some strange requests.After seducing a woman, he would ask her to have a small heart tattooed on her hand, to show the world that she belonged to him.When the woman had been thus branded as his property — he murdered her.

Can Harry Bosch defend a man accused of murder without betraying everything he believes in?Six months ago, Harry Bosch left the LAPD before they could fire him, and then hired maverick Defense Attorney Mickey Haller to sue the department for forcing him out. Although it wasn’t the way he wanted to go, Harry has to admit that being out of the game has its benefits. Until Mickey asks him to help on one of his cases, and suddenly Harry is back where he belongs, right in the centre of a particularly puzzling murder mystery. The difference is, this time Harry is working for the defense, aiming to prevent the accused, Da’Quan Foster, from being convicted. And not only does the prosecution seem to have a cast-iron case, but having crossed over to ‘the dark side’ as his former colleagues would put it, Harry is in danger of betraying the very principles he’s lived by his whole career.

Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs return to New York City to confront a killer terrorizing couples at their happiest — and most vulnerable.

In the early hours of a quiet, weekend morning in Manhattan’s Diamond District, a brutal triple murder shocks the city. Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs quickly take the case. Curiously, the killer has left behind a half-million dollars’ worth of gems at the murder scene, a jewelry store on 47th street. As more crimes follow, it becomes clear that the killer’s target is not gems, but engaged couples themselves.

The Promisor vows to take the lives of men and women during their most precious moments — midway through the purchase of an engagement ring, after a meeting with a wedding planner, trying on the perfect gown for a day that will never come. The Promisor arrives silently, armed with knife or gun, and a time of bliss is transformed, in an instant, to one of horror.Soon the Promiser makes a dangerous mistake: leaving behind an innocent witness, Vimal Lahori, a talented young diamond cutter, who can help Rhyme and Sachs blow the lid off the case. They must track down Vimal before the killer can correct his fatal error. Then disaster strikes, threatening to tear apart the very fabric of the city — and providing the perfect cover for the killer to slip through the cracks.